Transition
by shany94a
Summary: Newlyweds Bob and Helen Parr face facts - and new lives - as the world at large decides it no longer needs costumed heroes
1. Chapter 1

_What did Bob and Helen do right after supers were basically outlawed by the government? One possibility ... All characters owned by Disney/Pixar._

Helen had stayed up for hours, waiting for Bob to come home. They had only been married half a year now, but if Helen had had doubts before about a superheroic marriage, well, they had tripled in the wake of the past few months.

It wasn't her husband that was the problem. She knew Bob had been dedicated to his craft and that sometimes he got a little distracted from everything else; but above all he was a good man, a sincere man, and that was why she had fallen in love with him in the first place.

No, it was everything else facing them now. If she was glad for anything at this time, besides their love, it was that they had already exchanged their wedding vows. She didn't know how Bob might have handled all this alone, and she knew she was going to have to be there for him more than ever, even this early in their marriage.

She stood there in her robe and slippers and saw the news segment replayed yet again on the 11 o'clock news, the one with that congresswoman telling the nation's superheroes that the hour had come for them to make their choice.

"It is time for their secret identity to become their only identity," she said, matter-of-factly, as if surrendering their public image would be as easy as slipping out of their custom-made supersuits.

Helen saw the footage of Bob as he waved his hand dismissively in response, looking perhaps a little bit less powerful before he turned and walked away from the podium for the final time.

Helen felt her face flush with anger. Was this woman an idiot? Were all of them in the federal government blind? All superheroes had needed secret identities, to protect themselves and especially their loved ones against those individuals who opposed them and would stop at nothing to destroy them by any means possible.

Families weren't necessarily considered off limits to supervillains, and if the supers were gone, who was going to stop those people? The police? Helen knew that uniformed patrolmen meant well and that they had courage, but honestly, they were simply no match for meta-human lawbreakers. Did the government plan on asking the villains to take up normal lives, too, now minus their criminal nom de guerres?

She was broken out of her reverie by a sound at the door. She heard the knob click as it rotated clockwise, felt her heart leap into her own throat as a massive form cloaked in blue and black moved inside, one that barely fit through the frame, but one she had expected.

Her husband, Bob Parr. Mr. Incredible. Or at least, he used to be, before all the recent lawsuits had seemingly turned America against its super-powered protectors. He appeared even smaller to her now than he did on television, his shoulders down, his back hunched over. And his face just looked so sad - as sad as she had ever seen him in all the years she had know him, fought alongside him, and grown to love him. And it killed her to see perhaps the greatest of heroes looking so defeated, as he reached up ever so slowly and peeled off his small black mask.

"Hi honey," she managed to get out, fighting back her emotions, her fingernails digging into the palms of her pliable hands to help steady her nerves.

Bob barely raised his head, or his voice, almost as if he couldn't bear to look at his new bride, as if she should be ashamed of him.

"It's all over, Helen,' he said finally, dejectedly. "It's all over for good."

She stretched out her arms some six feet and placed her hands on his shoulders, wanting just to touch him. She walked towards him as her limbs retracted to their normal length, but her husband only continued to stare at the floor.

"Baby,'" she said sadly, trying to lift his face up by the chin. "I am so sorry. I can't believe they actually did this."

She paused, wanting to say something else, but not sure of what or how to couch it, but she knew she couldn't just stand there silent.

"I should have been there," she said. "I should have been there today for you."

Bob looked up, towards his wife, saw a glint of tears in her eyes and hoped she didn't see the beginnings of the same in his.

"No, no," he said. "Trust me, you didn't want to be there, Helen, it was ugly. I mean the people - my god, they hate us now. You'd almost think we were the villains, the way they treated me and the others today. It wasn't even the occasional piece of trash they threw, it was just the glares they gave us, and some of the things they said were just terrible. So cold, so hard-hearted, as if they couldn't stand us anymore and wished we'd go away altogether."

His eyes suddenly narrowed, his muscles tensed slightly, and a tinge of anger colored his next words.

"Well," he said through clenched teeth, "they're getting their wish."

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

_Hoo-boy, did I slack off on this one. I apologize to all those who have been waiting, patiently or anxiously, for the next part, and I'm very sorry it took so long in coming. I will try to do better in the future._

…

Helen wasn't sure what to make of Bob's last statement, that the people of Metroville, America, and indeed the world were getting what they wanted by forcing the supers out of their lives and into hiding.

"Bob," she said softly, "you can't mean that."

Bob Parr, no longer Mr. Incredible, at least not publicly, looked up at his new bride with disdain. Not for her - never for her - but he had had enough. The disdain melted into tiredness, even sadness, as he shrugged his shoulders and then hunched over in his chair.

"Why not, Helen?" he said wearily. "They've had it in for me - us - ever since I saved that Sanskrit guy from killing himself ..."

"Sansweet, honey," interjected Helen. "His name was Sansweet."

"Oh, who cares?" shot back Bob, a little harsher than he intended, but Helen let it slide.

"I saved his life, I saved the lives of everyone on that train, and they still wanted to burn me at the stake, even though I was just trying to rescue what's-his-face and that kid, Buddy. You make one mistake - well, two mistakes - and …"

He leaned back in the chair, which seemingly threatened to break under his massive blue-and-black bulk.

"I guess the days of the superhero and Mr. Incredible really are done," he said after some time, with some real conviction. "And I guess it's time for Bob Parr, ordinary citizen, to find something else to do."

That was quick, surmised Helen. She thought that Bob would have moped about for days, lamenting the loss of his superheroic lifestyle, but he seemed to be taking it well. Maybe he was just tired of all the rigmarole of the past several weeks and was seeking some normalcy. In any event, she'd be there to help him through it if he relapsed or something along those lines in the coming days.

But what for him - and them - to do next?

"Like what, Bob?" offered Helen.

Come to think of it, she had never really seen Bob do or talk about anything but superheroing in almost all the time she had known him. She knew he liked to eat and watch TV in his downtime, but those particular skills weren't going pay any bills. And there were going to be bills, perhaps more than either of them had counted on at this point.

Tell him, rang out a tiny voice within Helen's head, but she pushed it away.

"Oh, I don't know," said Bob, shrugging again, his mind racing slightly - and then his countenance brightened a bit.

"Hey, Helen, maybe I could get into construction!" he beamed, his teeth now flashing widely.

The former Elastigirl grimaced just a little, but it was enough for her husband to notice.

"What?" said Bob, a tad incredulous, as he raised his gloved hands upright.

"Bob, I don't think you're cut out for construction," she replied somewhat meekly.

"Oh, come on, why not?" he said, his voice growing a little louder as he started to stand up. "Helen, I could save construction companies a fortune in equipment! They wouldn't need a crane with me on the job, you know I can bench press well over 50 tons, and …"

" …and therein lies the inevitable problem, " countered his wife. "You lift a cement truck over your head, Bob, then you might as well just wear your Incredible suit to work. They wouldn't need anybody to rat you out to the government."

Bob started to counter, and then stopped short, realizing she was right. Helen was almost always right. She was the practical one in the marriage, the rational counter to his big kid-like behavior.

Bob sighed as he lowered himself back into his surprisingly-strong chair. He was going to have to start taking things more seriously now. He had a wife to take care of, and that wasn't going to change just because he couldn't legally don his supersuit and swing into action and save the day anymore.

"You're right, honey," said Bob, a little sadly. "I guess I'm going to have to tone it down a bit from now on and try to be more discrete."

He looked up to see Helen smiling at him.

"You can do it, baby," she said proudly. "You kept your identity a secret for so long, and I'm sure you'll still be able to keep it a secret. You're good at that."

Bob smiled, and it made Helen glad inside. She mused over what to say next, not wanting to deflate Bob again.

Tell him, came the voice within her again, but once more she shushed it internally.

"Maybe you could get a desk job," she said quickly, and then sort of wished she hadn't.

Bob looked like he'd been stuck with a pin, or at least a few of them.

"What, you mean do something like sell insurance?" he said, not believing his own words.

Helen looked at him sheepishly, arms behind her back, twiddling her rubbery thumbs around one another.

"Well, it doesn't have to be insurance, Bob," she got out. "There's banking jobs, retail jobs …"

Bob slumped further into the almost-too-small-for-him chair.

"This is gonna be tougher than I thought," he sighed again.

"… sports jobs …" she persisted.

Bob suddenly brightened up once more.

"Hey, yeah, sports!" he smiled. "I always wanted to play pro ball!"

He looked over happily at Helen - and saw her slowly shaking her head. He sighed once more.

"Yeah, that'd be a dead giveaway, too, wouldn't it?" he said. " Tackling whole professional football teams by myself on national TV."

He look a bit dejected, but then actually managed a sly smile.

"That Ultra Bowl MVP trophy sure would have looked good on my shelf, though."

Helen laughed out loud. So did Bob. Finally.

He got up, walked over to his wife, and hugged her as she wrapped her own her arms around his massive frame no less than three times.

"We'll make it, Helen," said Bob. "Somehow."

"I know we will," she countered, as she looked up into his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he responded, as they looked at one another and smiled, trying to be strong for one another. They pressed their lips together and held, not wanting to let go, and suddenly all of life's problems didn't seem so terrible as long as they had one another.

One another, thought Helen …

They disengaged and prepared to get on with their new life together. Whatever that entailed.

Bob turned away, as a slightly anxious look crossed Helen's face. She bit her lower lip.

Tell him now! squealed the small voice within her head one more time.

All right, fine, I'll do it, she thought. He has to know.

"Bob …" she started softly, but he didn't hear her, even with super-hearing, as he was too pre-occupied with taking the next step in his life.

"Where's the newspaper?" he said, looking around. " There's gotta be something out there for a guy like me!"

He walked towards the kitchen, where he found the classified section sitting on the counter, right next to a freshly-baked chocolate-covered cake set under glass. A little something Helen had made for him.

"Ooh, cake!" uttered Bob in little boy-like fashion , as he licked his lips and eagerly reached for the knob situated on top of the glass dome.

"Bob, there's something I have to tell you," called Helen after him, louder this time, as she stretched out her right arm towards him ...

Just then the phone rang.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
